Merry Christmas

The holidays are here and Lisa and I are blessed to have a few days off. Together. Which means there is quite a bit going on like the kids coming home, eating, getting together with the Johnson's on Christmas Eve, eating, family games, eating, movies, eating, meals, snacks. And of course preparing for The Big Year.

I know what you are all thinking...."But Dan where is the exercise and running time?" With everything else going on something had to go and we all have our priorities. Looking at my schedule of events above you can see mine. With the temperature  this morning at -14F outside running is not happening, and a drive to Sioux Falls to go to the gym ain't happening either. But this gave me a chance to review my training journal and running log and make goals for next year. As I sat down the first thing I realized is that I don't have a training journal or running log. So there's my goal for next year. Whew that was quick.

I'm sure some of you (misguided as you may be) may be wondering if there is too much time in our schedule for eating. I ask you, what does the evil magician from Frosty the Snowman, the Winter Warlock from Santa Claus is Coming To Town, and Scrooge all have in common? They are all skinny. OK the Winter Warlock is wearing a robe, but just look at his face and hands and you can tell he's skinny. That's the real reason for all the holiday treats, to weed out the evil guests. Anyone who isn't willing to gain a couple of pounds over Christmas.........well let's just say that I wouldn't trust them with my old felt hat. I plan on being jolly this Christmas. Real jolly. This way I don't have to think too hard to come up with a New Year resolution. Another example of "wise".

This makes me "jolly"

Oh Fudge!

I have to say I have very good memories of growing up. Like watching The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights, popcorn and malts which we still have for supper way too often, and Dad making fudge, which Lisa put on her Christmas baking menu. Of the six items on the baking menu we have two completed. And two other treats baked that are not on the list but that's how we roll, spur of the moment-devil may care attitude. Riiight. But fudge was on the initial list. So that was my mission. Make fudge.

The recipe is fairly straight forward, as far as Mom's recipes in the family cookbook go anyway -sometimes they can be a little vague with terms such as "a little" "some" and "around". But luckily the fudge recipe has definite amounts like "pinch" and "dash." I got this.

FIRST TRY: it says to cook to soft ball stage, so I did. I made it a softball, well it felt closer to a baseball but at least it was the size of a softball.
Lisa asked "Are you going to try it again?"
"I don't know"
she smiles "Yes you are"
I smile, "I know. I can't let this beat me."
After chipping it out of the pan and letting the pot soak for a couple of hours I was ready for round two.
SECOND TRY: I used a candy thermometer on the first batch, but obviously it didn't work so batch two was going to be by feel. And a glass of cold water to test the so-called soft ball stage. It was a nice try. This batch can at least be used as ice cream topping so it wasn't a total loss. And the pan was easier to clean.
THIRD TRY: So if the first batch boiled too long, and the second didn't boil long enough,  that means  it would have been a good idea to time the first two batches. Maybe I'll add this line to my recipe: "Time the first two tries so the third try has a better chance of turning out." Of course that's in hindsight. Yea more ice cream topping......

I wish I could report that Dad's fudge turned out perfect and delicious. I also would like to report that we won the lottery this week-end. It didn't and we didn't. Lisa in her gentle wisdom knows when I am beat. She took pity on me and offered to help, and she needed the pot I was using, and we were running out of ingredients, and I was in her way, and I was becoming a little obsessive. Whatever, I'll take the help. Lisa had a different recipe that did turn out. Finally.

So after 5 lbs of sugar, a container of cocoa, half gallon of milk, a pound of butter and six hours I can cross fudge off the list. And add ice cream topping.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving suddenly appeared. Kinda like a cow on the Valley Road waiting to be hit by a mini van driven by.......well that may be another blog, but it did sneak up on me. Again. You would think that I would figure out it does come around this time every year. Of course you also would think I would figure out that  at my age a piece of cake and two cups of coffee is not the best bedtime snack.

What has happened to the Thanksgiving tradition of cooking all morning, eating for 15-20 minutes, sleeping in front of a ball game for a couple hours, then chiseling dried food off of pots and pans and plates for the next few hours? I mean what is more American?

Shopping.

"Black Friday" has moved into what Lisa has started calling  "Brown Thursday".  With stores opening earlier and earlier this is a busy time of year in the credit card world and I worked a full shift on Thanksgiving. This gave Lisa a chance to be home alone to do what she does best - decorate. In this case the Christmas tree. Of course I help with the decorating. By that I mean I carry the boxes upstairs. Then carry them back down because I got the wrong ones. Who needs six totes of tree decorations? Besides us I mean. Lisa has six basic colors that she can decorate the tree with. In alphabetical order they are brown, burgundy, crystal, gold, green, and silver. Then she can mix and match and we can have a different tree every year for the next 30 without buying another ornament. Of course I'm kidding, we will get more ornaments. And since we were both busy we decided to pass on the traditional turkey dinner and instead enjoyed a not so traditional Thanksgiving chicken casserole. Close enough.

On Friday I worked a 10 hour shift and Lisa worked her regular day at Fitkids. So by 5:30 when we could go shopping the sales are done and the stores are empty. Of stuff, not people. There are still wall to wall shoppers wondering around the empty shelves muttering about "doorbusters" and "limited quantities." So for us that means Chinese take-out for our Thanksgiving leftovers and home to watch a movie. Ahhh another successful Black Friday.

Truthfully I am thankful for my health, being blessed with work, having a loving wife to come home to with a beautiful Christmas tree, and a great family. What more can I ask for? I'll save that for my letter to Santa.

Christmas tree #18 of  30

Chicago

Lisa and her friend Sherry flew to Chicago this weekend to visit Whitney. And to go shopping. And to go sightseeing. And mainly to the show Wicked. And see Whitney. Since this will be Lisa's first time flying without me and Sherry said she hasn't flown for years I figured I would grace them with the wisdom of my years.

They were both excited and nervous for the trip so I warped into "knight in shining armor" mode to help them through the ticketing/security/boarding process. When we got to the airport I went directly to the ticketing kiosk and started to explain how to get your own boarding pass. As one who works in customer service I knew that using the machine would be easier. Lisa with great patience, love, and her sweet smile completely ignored me and went directly to the counter and 60 seconds later came back with her ticket. Ok that was easier.
Fair Maidens   1
Knight             0
Next came the security process. I assured them that only shoes, purse, liquids, suitcase need to be inspected- that's it.
Jewelry? Nah no problem. I have never had a problem with my jewelry (wedding ring.)
Shoes, purse, liquids, suitcase just put them on the conveyor belt and breeze through the metal detector. Lisa had a bracelet that took two trips through the metal detector and Sherry had a bracelet and earrings that took three tries. Oops
Fair Maidens  2
Knight            0
Next step was boarding the airplane. I think both Lisa and Sherry were thankful to be through security and on their own finally. That way I can't "help" them to the plane and they end up in Utah.

Sherry and Lisa made it to Chicago in spite of my help

This leaves me, Mr. Bachelor, home alone for the weekend. I plan on watching too much TV and eating too much........which isn't a whole lot different from my normal weekend. Maybe I'll even stay up past 11 - that's living on the wild side.

Weddings

Many, many years ago, when Lisa and I were first married, we were involved in a lot of our friends' weddings. As part of the bridal party, doing the music, or just helping out in miscellaneous ways we would get caught up in the excitement (as in "I'm marring my best friend" complete with doe eyes and sighs), the drama (as in "these flowers are pink I distinctly ordered blush") and the overall build up of the whole scene. Looking back it had to have been exhausting.

We loved watching the first season of Downton Abbey on Netflix. The second season we enjoyed, but weren't quite as invested-still didn't miss an episode. At this point in our lives we have reached the second season of weddings. This is where our friends' kids are now getting married. Similarly, we are not quite as invested but still aren't missing an episode. As in four weddings in the last three months. The last of which was last weekend. The best thing about the second season weddings is that we can just show up, give hugs, eat cake and go home. No fuss, no muss. But at my age it is still exhausting.

Here is my top 10 list of wedding observations:

10) The number of people in the wedding party should never be more than the number of guests        invited to the wedding

9) An open bar doesn't guarantee a great reception, but it certainly helps 

8) Grooms should be like a cathedral train - there to enhance the beauty of the bride, just try not to get in the way

7) Wedding cakes are for pictures; desert bars are for eating

6) The throwing of the wedding bouquet is not a signal for a scrum

5) The best reception dinner is a pasta bar - but then again I'm not wearing a $5000 white dress

4) The length of speeches at the reception should be inversely proportional to the amount of alcohol consumed

3) "Love Stinks" by J Geils Band is not an appropriate song anytime during the evening

2) Candy corn is not an appetizer 

1) All brides are beautiful!

Truthfully, 8 out of the 10 are actual observations and the other two.....let's just say "they are based on reality" from this seasons weddings. I'll let you decide which is which. Feel free to add your own observations, I'm sure this list could be longer.

Run Dan Run

In my first blog I mentioned that I tried running last year. When I was a young and foolish 49. I figured I've been going to the gym, doing Zumba, lost a few pounds, heck I even had a pair of sneakers. I got this! I thought four miles would be a reasonable first run but after a mile I was done and had to hobble back to the house, looking more like I was 50 rather than 49. I went out and bought a knee brace and kept going, and was the epitome of the phrase: more guts than brains. By the end of the summer I still couldn't make it more than 3 miles and had to ice my knee after every run so long distance wasn't going to happen and I gave up.

Lisa has a lot of "guys" as in "I know this guy....": moving to Chicago? She knows a girl who manages apartments there; want venison?Brian usually gets an extra deer; doctor? Babysits for a orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spines; overage/overweight/beginning runner with a sore knee? Do you want a personal trainer, a massage therapist, or a family of experienced runners. Yes please. I talked to all of them and decided my knee problem was actually a hip problem, I needed some different stretches, and I got a hand-me-down subscription to a running magazine. Who knew there was more to it then lacing up the sneakers. So in honor of the upcoming 50th birthday I started again. Older and wiser(see definition of wise in my second post)

In June I successfully completed a 5K race brace-free and pain-free, well relatively pain free. I got a half marathon training plan and started increasing my mileage. I quit running with my iPod so I could listen to my body's conversations:
                "Are we really doing this?"
                 "Lungs, you still working?"
                 "Squirrel!"
                  "Feelin' ok knee?"
                  "Are we there yet?"
And that's just the first mile.

Do you know how it feels when everything falls into place, the stars align, and whatever you do just works perfectly? Yeah me neither, but this training was going pretty good. Up to about 4 weeks before race day. I had a 10 mile run scheduled and the route has a short (100 yd) but steep hill around mile 7, so I wisely(again see definition above) choose to run down the hill instead of up it. At the bottom, and for the next mile my knee let me know that was not the best decision:
                  "Idiot you should have walked that part"
                   "I tried to warn you"
                   "you never listen to me"
I was wishing I had my iPod.

I ended up walking the last two miles and icing my knee for the next two days. Back to rehabbing the knee/hip. I was able to finish the training and  complete the 13.1 miles last month, but it wasn't pretty. I couldn't run for a couple weeks afterward and just now I'm back up to 4 miles a couple days a week. Inside on a treadmill since it's cold and dark here now.

The moral of the story.......well there really isn't a moral to my story. But I am planning a 10K in May, and a half in June and maybe just maybe a full marathon in September. Who knows, I'll be 51 by then and may have out grown this running nonsense.

I Do Windows

Everyone complains about their job. Well that may be too much of a blanket statement. That guy on the Food Network who goes around the country tasting the best food doesn't have too much complain about: "I have to eat the best tasting BBQ ribs today, darn I wanted the best tasting donuts, oh wait that's tomorrow" yeah that's a tough job. Let me revise my initial statement. On occasion I complain about my job.

Working for Capital One has its ups and downs, but one thing they do right is to encourage their employees to volunteer. Not only encourage, but bring opportunities into the workplace and also provide opportunities in the community outside the workplace. That is how I found myself one sunny morning last week not at my cubical, but outside two Habitat for Humanity houses along with a few coworkers. The guy overseeing the project (foreman is too generous a term; more like......babysitter) came up to me and started talking. I would like to believe he chose me because I looked capable and at home on a construction site, but it was probably because I was the oldest and all the other guys were horsing around.

Him: "Do you know how to install windows?"
Me: "Yes"

Ok I've never installed windows from scratch before. I've reinstalled it after we replaced our hard drive and I had to upgrade our browser just to start this blog so I figured I could handle it. Then it hit me-he wasn't after my mad computer skills.
Ok I've never installed windows from scratch before. I've looked out of and washed them before and installed doors, so I figured I can handle it.

Him: "The windows are in the garage next door, tools in the trailer out back, shims are over in the corner."
Me: "I'll get the shims."

Not too long ago I would have considered that lazy, but after 50 this can be considered "wise". Like it is "wise" to dance in your living room at 2:00 pm not in a club at 2:00 am. Let the youngsters go get the windows and root around the trailer to find the hammers and dance in the clubs. I'll get the shims. I was also "wise" to let the guys climb the scaffold and hammer the windows in while I stayed inside and installed the shims.

Three hours and eight windows later it was a job well done. Whoever lives in these houses can rest assured, those windows are shimmed to perfection. Even though I got paid, I'm still going to consider this volunteering and signed up to do it again next week. Maybe they will want me to help frame, I've seen every episode of Dancing With The Stars so I know a good frame.

Why blog?

When I told Lisa a while ago I was thinking of starting a blog she said it was about time and that my blog was sure to be interesting, insightful, entertaining and just what the internet needed. At least that was what I was hoping to hear. Actually her response was more truthful and to the point: "What do you have to talk about?"

AND with Dene, Ashley, Mike and Whitney already with blogs, I thought we need more presence on the net. Kinda like adding that third cup of sugar to the pitcher when you are making kool-aid. So rather than me keep telling Whitney she needs to blog more, I thought I might as well do my own. Of course if you would rather read about the adventures of two young, fresh actresses living in Chicago by all means read Whit's. But if you want to hear the ramblings of a 50something phone rep working at a call center in Sioux Falls, yeah this is the place.

I turned fifty this year and this blog is just part of that process along with a scruffy beard. And my current obsession with running. That started last year when I saw age 50 on the horizon and getting closer and it seemed to be a good time to run. I saw a story about the 100 mile ultra-marathon in the Black Hills and decided that would be a good goal when I turn 50. Not the 100 mile distance- that would be crazy-but the 50 mile race they have, that would be reasonable. It would be more reasonable for me to go buy a Ferrari but........ I thought  if I finished a marathon by the end of the summer I could sign up for the ultra. I walk/ran a 5k in June, ran a 5k in July and could barely walk by August. Thus ended the dream of an ultra-marathon. I did find out I actually liked running though.

So in answer to Lisa's question "what do you have to talk about?" I guess we will find out, and I invite you to come along.